GOD'S PRESENCE, WAYS AND WORD

“You will teach me how to live a holy life.

Being with you will fill me with joy;
at your right hand I
will find pleasure forever.”
Psalm 16:11
New Century Version

We are changed into the image and likeness of God by spending time in His presence (2 Corinthians 3:18). It is in His face, we learn His ways, gain insight and get a better understanding of His Word. This cannot be accomplished on a once a week basis, but must come from daily interacting and engaging God. It is the individual responsibility of each believer to develop a personal, intimate relationship with Him. Believers must actively pursue God by staying in His presence, learning his ways and studying His word. By His Spirit, we are transformed into His image and likeness as we are before Him and learn how to live holy lives that will please him. The pleasures, or sweetness, of His presence include the building of our faith, gaining His perspective, or viewpoint, and having our discernment sharpened.
Spending time in his presence through prayer builds our faith, or confidence, in Him. In His presence we experience His unfailing love and fullness of joy. We begin to know that we are complete and accepted in the royal family of heaven. In His presence, our faith matures because He begins to share His wisdom, His perspective and we begin to learn His ways.
Learning the ways of God, is vitally important. Moses, asked God in Exodus 33:13, “show me your intentions [ways/character]so I will understand you more fully and do exactly what you want me to do.” Moses wanted to have a God’s-eye view of things. Psalm 103:7 says, “He revealed his character to Moses and his deeds to the people of Israel.” The children of Israel never responded to what God did because they never understood or appreciated why He did it! Because of this, they never saw things from God’s perspective and many times were offended with God. It is vital to learn and appreciate the way God chooses to accomplish His will.
Our faith in God and confidence in His ways will lead to keen discernment. Only by studying His word will our discernment be sharpened to recognize error, lies and deception. Hebrews 5:14 says, “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” Discernment is vital, especially in these last days.
The presence of the Lord is not just to get a good feeling or to make you happy. The presence of the Almighty God is to bring us to fullness, completeness and perfection by His Spirit. Our faith is increased and we also learn His ways, get His perspective and are trained to distinguish between good and evil. Get in God’s presence, learn His ways and stay in His Word!